Stay Afloat
by metatrons-gurl
Summary: Pirates gets modernized. JE so if that's not your thing, run.
1. Stay Afloat

Title: Stay Afloat  
  
Chapter: 1/?  
  
Author: metatrons_gurl  
  
Summary: Pirates of the Caribbean gets modernized- again.  
  
Pairings: J/E W/A  
  
Feedback: Please? metatrons_gurl@yahoo.com Flames will be used to make me laugh.  
  
Archival: Sparrow and Elizabeth, Jack and Elizabeth 4ever, DeppFanFiction, Fanfiction.net.Anybody else "Want, ASK, take, have."  
  
Disclaimer: * Sighs * I don't own Jack, Lizzie, Will, Ana Maria, Mr. Swann, Ragetti, Barbossa, Gibbs, Grapple, Bill Turner, or the name 'Black Pearl', I don't own the characters they're based on, I own nothing save the plot..Actually I do own Mrs. Michelle Sparrow, John Sparrow, and 'Rat Bastard' Sparrow, they'll show up later. I own none of the songs. They belong to the awesome people of Good Charlotte, Evanescence, Disturbed, Shinedown, and my friend's cousin. Don't ask. I don't even own the title. It's from my friend's cousin.  
  
A/N: I should never be allowed near Buffy or Pirates of the 21st Century: A Modernized Tale ever again. This is the result. There may be some Buffy references in here. FYI: This is set in the present. I don't know how the characters would act, so I'm guessing here. They will not be musically hopeless and that will come into play later. I know nothing of the British school system/s so this is set in the US. Also, if you decide to review please offer me suggestions on how to get the characters into character, they've been griping at me about it.  
  
A/N 2: My beta FINALLY woke up and betaed these for me so I'm swapping out the unbetaed for the betaed. Tell me if you see the difference.  
  
* Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep * 'I hate that alarm clock,' Elizabeth saw no point in having an alarm clock that went off at the wrong times and then wouldn't shut up until it was practically thrown across the room. She rolled out of bed and walked over to her closet. 'No. No. Maybe. No. No,' she went through her clothes until she found an outfit that she liked and that her 'friends' would approve of. She settled on her favorite jeans, a white tank top, and a light blue sweater. 'Why dress up? There's no one there to impress.'  
  
It was true. There were no boys worth impressing, Will was the only really good looking one, and he was like a brother to her. Why try to impress your brother? It was the middle of term so there wouldn't be any new guys. And even if there were, there were no good looking ones.  
  
Lizzie took a quick shower, got dressed and walked downstairs for breakfast. 'One Pop-Tart or two?' she teased herself. Josie and Kate would have a heart attack if she'd said that to them. They insisted on one mug of coffee, preferably from the Starbucks down the street, and one quarter of a bagel. Yes, a quarter. The 'harpies' as some called them would screech if the bagel was cut wrong or if the coffee was not exactly to their liking. They thought they were trendy, Lizzie thought they were annoying.  
  
But she had no choice. If ya can't beat 'em, join 'em. So she did. But she ate what she wanted, when she wanted.  
  
Ana-Maria continuously wondered aloud how Lizzie could stand to be within a mile of them. Lizzie had let her know of two superb inventions: Walkmans and earplugs.  
  
After eating her breakfast it was back upstairs to put on a light bit of make-up, then she was ready to go. Her father kissed her good-bye and told her to call him when she got there to make sure she was safe. Lizzie loved her dad, honestly, but he was a bit overprotective.  
  
Lizzie got into her car and started it. Her new favorite CD, which Ana- Maria had been kind enough to burn for her, started up on the perfect song for the moment actually.  
  
"Wake up tired Monday mornings suck"  
  
Lizzie laughed out loud as she turned the corner.  
  
Elizabeth turned onto the school's parking lot just as Evanescence's 'Lies' ended. Now she would be humming that song all day. As she climbed out of her car Lizzie heard Harpy 1 and Harpy 2.  
  
"Bethy!" Harpy 1, also known as Kate, squealed. "You simply HAVE to come to this club with us on Fri!"  
  
"Which club?" she asked, more to appease them than out of interest.  
  
"Black Pearl!" they chorused.  
  
"Duh! Beth-Beth!" Josie squawked. "There's this new band set to open and I've heard that they are DELISH!"  
  
"Let me guess," Lizzie sighed. "The drummer's hot."  
  
"No silly!" Harpy 2 flipped her hair and did her trademark 'as-if' look. "The guitarer or whatever it's called."  
  
"Guitarist," Ana-Maria had arrived. The darker girl gave Lizzie a pointed look.  
  
"Yeah," Harpy 1 chimed.  
  
Lizzie and Ana rolled their eyes and set off towards homeroom.  
  
About halfway there, Lizzie collided with something, or rather someone. A very lost someone. As her books went flying, and a strong pair of arms reflexively grasped Lizzie's waist to break her fall.  
  
"Ya alright there?" the 'someone' asked, slowly releasing his grip.  
  
"I'm alright," Lizzie mumbled. Behind her she heard Kate whisper something about 'salty goodness'. Regaining her balance, Lizzie looked up at whoever it was. She didn't care who it was, they were rude! Running into- 'Rude? I meant cute.' She amended when she got a good look at him.  
  
He was about a half foot taller than her, lean, tanned, with an angular face holding handsome features and dark eyes, his hair was dark and had a sort of 'Greg Sanders' look about him. That is to say that this overall amazing package's hair was spiked. He also had the beginnings of a goatee.  
  
Lizzie smiled shyly, he gave her a lopsided smirk and asked, "Do you by any chance know where homeroom 419 is?"  
  
There were two whispered 'damns' as Ana-Maria cleared her throat, Lizzie looked at her. "That's our homeroom," Ana-Maria sounded rather annoyed. "We were just heading there."  
  
"D'you mind if I follow ya?"  
  
"Not at all," Lizzie said before Ana could speak.  
  
Mystery Guy touched his fingertips together in front of his chest and murmured 'thank you.' The five of them set off down the hall.  
  
The Harpies broke away outside of 302. After air-kisses and 'see ya later's the remaining three continued on in silence. At least until the Harpies were well out of hearing range.  
  
"Good God!" came the irritated masculine voice. "Are they ALWAYS like that?"  
  
The poor boy had had to endure five minutes of the Harpies at their worst. Strangely enough the two girls had been dumb enough to ask everything from shoe size to favorite ice cream flavor yet hadn't asked his name.  
  
"Yes, sadly," Lizzie told him.  
  
"She means when they aren't drinking their seven ounce coffees and eating their quarter bagels," Ana put in. "So for all but twenty minutes a day they're like that."  
  
His response was a soft chuckle. "So, they're Josie and Kate. Got that, but what are your names?"  
  
"Ana-Maria Saldana," Ana said evenly. "And this," she gave Lizzie a light push. "Is 'Bethy', or 'Beth-Beth' as the Harpies call her. More commonly known as Elizabeth Swann."  
  
Lizzie shot her a glare.  
  
"Jack Sparrow," he stated by way of introduction.  
  
Ana's jaw dropped. "You're the one who got that DWI a while back after you were caught drag-racing in that stolen car."  
  
"One, I was not drunk. I'm always like that," sure enough, there was a definite swagger when he walked. "Two, it was not a drag-race. Well not quite, we were late to practice and decided to race each other there."  
  
"You stole a car!"  
  
"Borrowed!" he defended. "Borrowed without permission, but with every intention of bringing it back."  
  
Ana-Maria glared at him. Lizzie who had been watching the exchange as one does a tennis match, finally spoke. "Ana reads the newspaper avidly, so it's likely that not many others will recognize you, but just to be safe, Ana keep your mouth shut."  
  
"Small town curse eh?" Jack questioned. Ana and Lizzie looked at each other then back at him, confused. "News gets around." He clarified.  
  
They nodded.  
  
"Damn," he growled. "Ok, this stays between us. Neither of you say anything to anyone, savvy?"  
  
Again they nodded. By this time they had reached the door, they had about two minutes before the bell rang so they went inside.  
  
Mrs. Johansson merely frowned, upset that they hadn't managed to get themselves killed over break and that she still had to baby-sit a class. The room's only other occupant got up and walked towards them.  
  
"Lizzie," he said engulfing her in a quick hug.  
  
"Will," she smiled at him.  
  
Will turned towards Ana-Maria and suddenly looked nervous. "Hi, Ana." He mumbled.  
  
"Hey Will," she returned just as nervous.  
  
Jack cleared his throat. Will turned towards him, frowned, then looked toward Lizzie with a question in his eyes.  
  
"Oh," Lizzie started. "Will, this is Jack Sparrow. Jack, this is Will Turner."  
  
Neither of the guys knew what to make of the other. Will and Jack merely exchanged half-hearted glares until Will finally had to blink.  
  
"Nice to meet you," Will put his hand out for Jack to shake. Jack hesitated, and then grasped his hand, shaking it cautiously.  
  
They moved away and Will turned back to the girls. "Bloodthirsty Barbossa's still here," he sighed. "Saw him on the way in."  
  
"They still haven't fired him?!" Ana exclaimed. "He hung Mike out the window because he couldn't answer a question!"  
  
"'Bloodthirsty'?" Jack asked.  
  
"The Lit teacher," Lizzie clarified. "Most of us swear he's a reincarnated pirate. He looks like one, talks like one, and is about as pleasant as Blackbeard."  
  
"Damn!" Ana groaned. "I didn't finish Dorian Grey! He's gonna kill me."  
  
"SparkNotes is a beautiful thing," Jack said calmly, handing over a sheaf of papers. Will and Lizzie looked at him quizzically. "Principal's a friend of mum's. Gave me a heads up on the course work."  
  
As he finished that statement, Mrs. Johansson walked over and grabbed him by the arm just as the bell rang. As the rest of Homeroom 419 flooded in Lizzie, Will and Ana scrambled for seats at the back.  
  
"Good morning people," Mrs. Johansson sounded like a frog when she talked, so she avoided it when possible. "We have a new addition to the homeroom," she pulled Jack forward, he tried not to wince, for being as old as she was the woman had an iron grip. "This is Jack Sparrow. Don't kill him." Introduction over, she released him to go find a seat, which he did, in the row in front of the trio.  
  
* Ding*  
  
The morning announcements were starting. "Good morning everyone and welcome back from holidays," said a bored voice. "There will be an assembly tomorrow morning so be sure to meet in the gym, not the homerooms. The cafeteria staff has prepared a treat for all of you for lunch," here there were several groans and a grimace from Mrs. Johansson. "Monsieur de la Roux's classes will not meet today as he fractured his ankle and could not make it in. It is suggested that his students go to the library to research the paper that is due next week-" The announcements continued on for about five minutes, causing many people to try to catch up on their beauty sleep. When they ended Mrs. Johansson got up, took roll and began to distribute the new semester's schedules.  
  
'Pre-Cal, with Thompson, Economics, with Cardoyan, Chemistry, with Mitchell, World History, with Masbeth, French, with de la Roux, Phys Ed, with Jothon,' Jack ticked off the classes as he saw them. Seeing the next one he almost groaned. 'English Lit. Teacher, Barbossa.' He heard a few barely disguised groans and a mumbled 'I thought I asked for a transfer,' and figured that the trio behind him had the same teacher. He turned around and asked, "Barbossa?"  
  
"Yes," Will sighed. "Today. Last period."  
  
Jack quickly checked his schedule again, and grinned, "Well, we have the same class. Ought to be fun."  
  
The day turned out to be all but fun. Pre-Cal was a nightmare; the teacher gave them a ton of homework due in two days. Economics was alright; just an orientation type class. The Chemistry teacher seemed scared of his shadow. The World History teacher tended to spit when he talked. The French teacher was out. Phys Ed had them running a mile and a half. After that it was time for English Lit.  
  
Walking into the classroom, Jack could see why the man had been dubbed 'Bloodthirsty'. The room was decorated with images of medieval torture devices, some of them blueprints. The shades were drawn, causing the room to have an even more Gothic appearance. There was a young man sitting at the large cherry wood desk in the corner. Surely that wasn't this 'Bloodthirsty Barbossa' character?  
  
The young man got up and walked to the front of the class as everyone took their seats.  
  
"Good afternoon," said the same bored tone that had read the morning announcements. "I hope you haven't forgotten me. In case you have, let me refresh your memory. I am James Norrington, Mr. Barbossa's aide for the year. Mr. Barbossa had a conference and will be here shortly. Hopefully you all finished The Picture of Dorian Gray. If you need to look over something, do so now." He went back to the desk and sat down.  
  
Will turned to Jack, "Be glad James is friendly. He usually intervenes before Barbossa gets too bad."  
  
"Poor Mike," Lizzie said quietly, looking towards the seat farthest from the window, yet closest to the door. "James was out sick when Barbossa snapped."  
  
Jack was about to say something to the effect of 'Really now, no one's THAT bad' when he was startled by the door slamming into the wall. Jack quickly turned back to face the front of the class. It was very good that he did, because at that time possibly the scariest teacher in the entire school system stormed into the room and began scanning the class.  
  
"I hope ye've finished Dorian Gray," the man virtually growled, he really did sound like a pirate. "We're goin' ta be havin' a discussion on it. 'Twill be for a grade," as he finished his comments the man sneered, well, actually for him it might have been a smile.  
  
"Let's begin," again the sneer. "What was the supreme conflict in the novel?"  
  
Several hands shot up, Will and Lizzie's among the first.  
  
Barbossa gave a long, suffering sigh, "Yes, Mr. Turner?"  
  
"Good against evil," Will said shortly.  
  
"Aye, Mr. Turner," Barbossa seemed put out. "That'll be one of 'em. But can anyone tell me why 'tis?"  
  
Lizzie's hand went down, as did the others. Jack cursed himself, 'Idiot, you have a brain! Use it!' He cautiously put his hand up.  
  
"Ye must be the new one," Barbossa sneered again. "What be yer name?"  
  
"Jack Sparrow, sir," he smiled tightly.  
  
"Ah," Barbossa relaxed slightly. "I'm guessin' yer not named after your father?" The mention of his father was enough to cause Jack to grimace. "No sir."  
  
"Well, Mr. Sparrow, what do ye have to say?"  
  
'Here we go,' Jack sighed. "The major conflict is good against evil because of two characters, Basil Hallward and Lord Henry Wotton."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"Lord Henry is rather like Satan or whatever anyone calls him. He taunts Dorian with his speech on beauty and remaining young. He also tells Dorian repeatedly that he can do anything he wants to and no one will care. Dorian sees Henry doing what he wants when he wants to and being happy, and he wants that life. His rant at the painting was essentially him selling his soul."  
  
"And what of Hallward?"  
  
Elizabeth's hand went up, she'd caught on to what he was saying.  
  
"Yes Ms. Swann," Barbossa sounded angry now that people were answering.  
  
"Basil is Dorian's conscience," she started slowly. "While Dorian is following Henry's example, Basil is there trying to steer him back on the path. Basil is worried when he hears of Dorian's reputation and confronts him about it. When Dorian shows him the painting he can't believe it, then he begs Dorian to repent. When Dorian kills him he was basically silencing his conscience in order to continue living his life without guilt."  
  
"Very good," Barbossa admitted grudgingly. "Apparently Mr. Turner is no longer the only one with half a brain. I want a three page type-written analysis of the book as a conflict of Good vs. Evil. Ye may work in yer study groups if you like, but the paper will be done individually. Bring it in, oh, Monday."  
  
"I'm not saying I wish any harm to the man," Jack commented as they left the class, "Just that I could happily sit by while someone knocks his head off."  
  
Will chuckled, Ana-Maria laughed, and Lizzie shot him a glare that was negated by the smile on her face.  
  
"Anyway," Lizzie said, still grinning. "Study group at my place? I can call out for pizza."  
  
"When?" Will asked.  
  
"Saturday good?" Ana-Maria questioned, when Lizzie called for pizza, they went all out, and Mr. Swann picked up the bill.  
  
"Saturday's fine with me," Lizzie said. "How about you guys?" "Saturday's great," Will answered.  
  
Jack, who was still trying to figure out if she was talking to him, simply nodded.  
  
"Hey!" came a voice from behind them. "Lizzie! Will! Wait up!"  
  
The group stopped and waited as a tall, scraggly looking blonde boy came up behind them.  
  
"Hi, Mike," Lizzie greeted with a warm smile.  
  
"You're Jack Sparrow," Mike said, turning to the boy in question.  
  
"Yes," Jack answered warily, "And you are?"  
  
"Mike Ragetti," the boy grinned. "I'm a friend of Lizzie's."  
  
"Good to meet you."  
  
"Lizzie," Ragetti said quietly. "Mick's really angry with you."  
  
"I told him no two weeks ago," Lizzie sighed. "I'm telling him no again."  
  
"Mick who?" Jack asked Will.  
  
"Mick Grapple," Will told him. "Football quarterback, fulltime jerk. Asked Liz to go to the dance with him, she told him no."  
  
"Oh," Jack said calmly. "Let me guess, the big strong star athlete wants to go to the dance, but he doesn't want to go alone, no, he wants to have the pretty, rich girl on his arm all night. After the dance he wants to make his move on her, if someone happens to have spiked the punch and things go too far, so be it."  
  
"Yep," Ana broke in. "That seems like his plan. Problem is he's a very nasty drunk. Violent too."  
  
Jack's expression darkened, "I know the type."  
  
"Look," Lizzie was saying. "I've been talked into going to a club Friday night by the Harpies. If he shows up I'll talk to him there."  
  
"Which club?" Ragetti questioned.  
  
"Black Pearl," no one noticed Jack's frown, "There's usually a lot of people there and there's a new band so it'll be even more crowded. He wouldn't try anything there. So that's where I'll talk to him."  
  
"Smart move," Jack mumbled. 


	2. 45

A/N: Title, Disclaimer, and Summary are all in part 1. This is the Friday after Jack shows up. I'm not going day by day. That would make it over a hundred chapters and I really don't feel like writing it all...So...I'll just skip to the important bits and we'll be on our way. Something I noticed, I put random references to the actors/actresses movies in here...I did not know I was doing that...  
  
Friday afternoon at 5:00, the Black Pearl was deserted. Jack walked in and looked around. Randy and Steven were in a dark corner tuning the bass and Steve's guitar. Over by the soundboard, Nick and Brad were discussing the stage setup with the sound tech. Jack shrugged and walked towards Randy and Steve.  
  
"Hey," Steve said, by way of greeting.  
  
"Hey," Jack returned. "So it's a ten song set, right? Originals and covers?"  
  
"Yeah. 3, 5, and 9 are on there," Randy answered. '3, 5, and 9' were the reference pages for the songs.  
  
Jack grimaced. "As long as he just gives the name of the songs, I'm fine."  
  
Steve smiled. "You haven't heard the rest of it. Brad just added '45' to the program. You're gonna get the spotlight."  
  
Jack didn't say anything; he just shot a death glare at Brad, who waved back happily.  
  
"How's the new school?" Randy asked.  
  
"Forget the school," Steve was smiling an awful lot. "How're the girls?"  
  
"Anorexic bimbos," Jack said straight-faced.  
  
"Aw," Randy sighed. "C'mon man! It can't be all that bad!"  
  
"Yeah," Steve agreed. "There has to be at least one!"  
  
Jack just grinned to himself and started tuning the guitar.  
  
"That's cold man," Steve whined. "Damn that's cold."  
  
"Lizzie, girl, I swear," Ana Maria was in the middle of a rant. "If you don't take me- I have to hear this band!"  
  
Ana Maria broke off into screaming Spanish obscenities, and Lizzie held the phone as far away from her ear as she could.  
  
"Ana," she started.  
  
Ana Maria didn't pay any attention to her. "Ana," Lizzie tried again. Ana Maria didn't even pause. "ANA!"  
  
"What?!" the girl still wasn't quite calm, but that would have to do.  
  
"You're coming with me," Lizzie told her. "Even if the band is great, I'm not going to be able to stand more than about five minutes of the Harpies by myself. Get your party clothes on and head over here."  
  
"I'll be there in ten minutes," Ana said as she hung up.  
  
Lizzie shook her head and hung up the phone. Ana would take twenty minutes, at least. She had plenty of time to eat something and call Harpies One and Two to see where they were going to meet.  
  
Back at the Black Pearl, it was still almost an hour until the doors open and there were a few last minute sound checks and arguments to go through.  
  
"So," Brad was saying. "We're just going to do the songs one right after the other? Boom, boom, boom?"  
  
"That depends on the order you want to do 3, 5 and Darkness in," Steve put in. "If you do them one right after the other, there's barely any time to adjust the mike stands and switch the guitars-" He broke off as Jack walked over to where his mike was set up, grasped the locking clutch, twisted it, and lowered it to the right height.  
  
"Name of the song and saying it's an original should work," Jack announced.  
  
"So," Brad said again. "3, switch the guitars, 5, you," he pointed to Steve, "get ready for Darkness, Darkness, swap the guitars again, 45?"  
  
"Sounds alright to me," Randy answered.  
  
"I think the sound tech's getting anxious," Jack said, looking over at the tech. "That or he's having a seizure."  
  
"He wants to do a sound check," Brad said, annoyed.  
  
"Ah," Jack sighed, grinning.  
  
"So, anyway," Josie had not stopped to breathe since meeting up with Lizzie and Ana. The Harpies had insisted on doing everyone's make-up. Why they needed make-up at a club, neither Ana nor Lizzie knew, but they just shrugged and went along with it. "My cousin's boyfriend is a total jerk, but he's the bouncer for tonight, so if we want in without paying the cover we're going to have to do some major pouting."  
  
"Three-fifty to get in is, like, so over-charging," Kate agreed.  
  
'Or,' Lizzie thought. 'We could just let you two do the Valley Girl act and get in that way.'  
  
After the doors opened there was twenty minutes of DJ'd music before the band went up. The extra time was to allow the tech to make sure there wouldn't be any of the annoying squeaks and squeals that were feedback. So far everything was going great. The band went onstage, plugged in the instruments, and turned on the amps.  
  
The only hitch would come if Brad decided to do a speech. Brad was horrible at speeches, apparently he'd figured that out and decided to skip it, simply saying 'hi' and introducing the band and the first number, a cover of Chevelle's "The Red." It seemed to be a popular song.  
  
"Guys," Ana Maria said. "The doors opened 45 minutes ago. If this is anything like most of the other bands, the set will be half over."  
  
"Aaack!" screeched Josie, who was working frantically on Lizzie's make-up, her own was already done. "Kate! Hair! Now!"  
  
Ana Maria smirked as Lizzie glared at her; Ana had already had her hair and make-up done and was actually rather pleased with the results.  
  
Her hair was pulled back into some sort of bun/ponytail, on her eyes there was light eye shadow and a bit of glitter, they had used a shimmering red lip-gloss, and, to complete the look, they had brushed a shimmer-powder over her face. Overall, it was a nice look, she'd probably never wear it again, but it was nice. It went well with the pale blue fitted pants and slightly darker halter she'd picked to wear.  
  
Ana looked back at Lizzie. They were apparently trying to turn her into some sort of Gothic princess. Dark eye shadow, deep red lipstick, mascara, more mascara, and some sort of sort of pale powder had already been applied. Behind Lizzie's head was a flurry of movement as Kate twisted and pulled and braided her hair into an intricate bun.  
  
It was her own fault, Ana Maria figured. Lizzie had chosen blue-black pants and a black halter as her outfit, and the Harpies eyes had lit up at the chance to break out the dark make-up.  
  
"Alright," Josie announced. "You're done. Let's go."  
  
The Harpies excitement was underscored by the look on Lizzie's face when she saw what they had done. It was a look of grudging respect mixed with shock, immediately followed by another glare at Ana Maria.  
  
Ana just grinned and followed the Harpies out.  
  
Walking into the club the girls noticed two things. One, Ana Maria was right, the set was almost half over and two, there were three guitarists, and one of them looked very familiar.  
  
The one that looked familiar was hard to place, mainly because they could only see the top of his head. Lizzie noted that the acoustic he was playing might look weather beaten but the sound was excellent.  
  
"I can't believe, in you," the singer was almost whispering. "I can't deceive, yeah, I can't, stay afloat." The song faded out and the applause faded in. A quiet thank you was said and the singer looked at the second guitar player. The guitarist nodded and the singer moved back to the mike.  
  
"I'm gonna let the guy to my left take the mike for a while," the singer announced. "He's going to do a cover of a song by Disturbed, called 'Darkness'."  
  
Lizzie smiled. She knew the song and she knew that Ana knew it. It was one of her favorites, mainly because the only things to it were an acoustic guitar and the singer.  
  
"Don't turn away," the second guitarist had a clear, strong voice that fit the song. The familiar guitarist knew what he was doing and had changed key and begun the accompaniment before the first word had been sung. "I pray you've heard the words I've spoken."  
  
Many people had heard the beginning of it and figured it was a slow song, there were about ten couples dancing now.  
  
Lizzie and Ana watched as two guys, probably brothers, maybe best friends, came up to Josie and Kate. After a few words, they were on the dance floor. Lizzie and Ana Maria exchanged looks and went to find a table.  
  
The table they found was a good one. The table was hidden slightly in the shadows, close enough to the stage to give them a good view, and they could see the door.  
  
"Then I let the darkness cover me," the singer continued. It was about the middle of the song. "Denied everything, Slowly walk away, To breathe again, On my own, On my own, On my own."  
  
Lizzie smiled as the pace of the song picked up slightly, the guitar becoming louder.  
  
Ana Maria looked at Lizzie. "Whoever that guy is, he has nice hands."  
  
"You and the hands," Lizzie sighed, the first thing Ana noticed about guys was their hands. "And the feet!"  
  
"Hey!" Ana sounded indignant. "Hands and feet aren't the only things."  
  
"Oh, no," Lizzie grinned. "There's also the butt, the voice, the hair-" Lizzie broke off as Ana took a swat at her. "But, you're right. He does have nice hands."  
  
"Slowly walk away," The song was almost over. "To breathe again, On my own, On my own." As the final chord faded out the familiar guitarist walked offstage for a moment and the first singer reclaimed the microphone.  
  
"For our last number," the singer began. "We're going to do another cover. Our other guitarist," he turned in the direction the guitarist had gone. "Get back up here, our other guitarist is going to take over for this one. The last number is by Shinedown, it's called '45'."  
  
Lizzie didn't recognize the title of the song, but Ana was grinning. Lizzie figured she had two things to look forward to now, finding out who that guitarist was and hearing another good song. The guitarist walked back on stage, sans guitar, shot what must have been a glare at the singer, and walked up to the mike. His hands were constantly moving now that he didn't have the guitar, and Lizzie figured it was either anxiousness or a habit. Lizzie's eyes narrowed when she noticed that he stayed just to where his face was shadowed enough to where she couldn't recognize him.  
  
The second guitarist started a lead in and the enigma grasped the microphone, still staying in the shadows.  
  
"Damnit," Lizzie growled. "Move."  
  
"You can keep doing that forever," Ana smirked. "That guy is never going to move."  
  
"Oh," Lizzie answered. "Well, excuse me if I haven't resigned myself to not recognizing him."  
  
"Send away for a priceless gift," the enigma sang quietly. "One not subtle, one not on the list, Send away for a perfect world, One not simply, so absurd, In these times of doing what you're told, You keep these feelings, no one knows-"  
  
"He's good," Ana Maria acknowledged. "Very good."  
  
"What ever happened to the young man's heart," Onstage, Jack was mentally running through everything he would do to torture Brad for this. "Swallowed by pain, as he slowly fell apart," Right now, Jack figured making him listen to Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake was high on the list.  
  
"And I'm staring down the barrel of a 45," Jack sang, hardly noticing Steve's echo of "45". "Swimming through the ashes of another life, No real reason to accept the way things have changed, Staring down the barrel of a 45."  
  
"Y'know," Ana Maria said slowly. "He really reminds me of the new guy, Jack."  
  
"He does," Lizzie agreed. 'Jack? Honestly. Next she'll be saying he looks like Johnny Depp.'  
  
" Send a message to the unborn child," the enigma interrupted. "Keep your eyes open for a while."  
  
"And during the last song," Ana Maria continued. "He reminded me of Roux, from Chocolat- What are you looking for?"  
  
Lizzie seemed to be searching the ceiling. "I'm looking for the flying pig," she answered.  
  
"Shut up," Ana said sweetly.  
  
"In a box high up on the shelf, left for you, no one else," the song continued. "There's a piece of a puzzle known as life, Wrapped in guilt, sealed up tight."  
  
"Hi girls," came Josie's voice. "Having fun?"  
  
"Yes," Lizzie answered. "We just cannot figure out why that guitarist seems so familiar."  
  
"Oh," Josie sighed. "Well, Kate and I were gonna go get a couple sodas. Anybody thirsty?"  
  
"Yeah," Ana said. "I'll take a Coke." Ana smiled when the Harpy made a face.  
  
"Sprite or 7-Up or water," Lizzie sighed. "Whichever one they've got."  
  
When the Harpy moved away, both Ana and Lizzie turned their attention back to the stage.  
  
"What ever happened to the young man's heart," 'Two choruses and one more verse,' Jack thought. 'Then you can go yell at Brad.' "Swallowed by pain, as he slowly fell apart, And I'm staring down the barrel of a 45," Jack amused himself by imagining that Steve's echo was 'Brad's gonna die,' instead of '45'. "Swimming through the ashes of another life, No real reason to accept the way things have changed, Staring down the barrel of a 45"  
  
"I like the song," Lizzie said.  
  
"Yeah," agreed Ana. "But I've never seen a band do a cover of it, hardly anyone else seems to have heard it."  
  
"Everyone's pointing their fingers," Brad, who had gone down into the crowd to get a better look at the stage, frowned. Turning, he saw where the man controlling the stage lights was and walked towards him. "Always condemning me, And nobody knows what I believe."  
  
"Hey," Brad began. "Could you bring the lights up on the guy who's singing? A lot of people were wondering-" He let the sentence hang as the man nodded. "Thanks," Brad grinned. Jack might kill him for this, but boy would it be worth it.  
  
"I believe," Jack finished the last verse and Steve was just doing the lead in to the chorus when the lights came up. 'I'M GONNA KILL HIM!' was all that was running through Jack's mind at the moment.  
  
Back at the girls' table, Lizzie's jaw dropped slightly, as did Ana Maria's.  
  
"And I'm staring down the barrel of a 45," 'Brad's gonna die,' Jack mentally sang along with the echo. "Swimming through the ashes of another life," It was interesting, Jack noted, that when the lights were up, you couldn't see faces only figures. " No real reason to accept the way things have changed," and that one figure at the back looked a lot like Ragetti. "Staring down the barrel of a 45," Jack held the note, reminding himself the entire time of how much he'd like to throttle Brad.  
  
The song finished, the lights went down, and the band started getting the instruments and amps offstage and where they could be loaded up into Nick's van.  
  
"Brad," Steve said with a smile on his face. "I think you're dead, man."  
  
"Probably," Brad smiled back. "But it was worth it."  
  
"Still," Randy broke in. "Hell hath no fury like Jack Sparrow scorned."  
  
"It's like woman scorned you moron," Steve told him.  
  
"Whatever."  
  
Jack walked, really it was more like stalked, out to the front of the building, intent on getting himself something to drink. The interesting thing was, the angrier he was, the more pronounced his swagger was.  
  
"Jack!" the voice sounded rather like Ana Maria's.  
  
'Oh shit,' Jack stopped and turned. "What're you doin' here?"  
  
"I came with Lizzie," 'Double shit.' "Nice drunk impression by the way."  
  
Jack shot her a glare, a 'get-to-the-point-soon-or-I'll...do-something' glare. She ignored it.  
  
"Anyway," Ana started again. "We have a table over in the corner if you'd like to come sit with us."  
  
"No thanks," Jack forced himself to smile. "I have a lead singer to kill."  
  
"Fun," Ana smiled. "See you at the study group tomorrow?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Ana turned on her heel and walked back over to the table.  
  
Jack started walking towards the 'bar', if it could even be called that, when he noticed a scraggly blond figure waving him over. 'This is gonna be a long night,' Jack thought walking towards Ragetti.  
  
"Whaddaya want?" Jack didn't know he could growl. 'Must try that more often,' he mused looking at Ragetti's reaction.  
  
"Grapple's here," Ragetti almost whimpered. 'Really, must try growling more often,' Jack forced his features to remain straight.  
  
"And what has that got to do with me?"  
  
"He's a little drunk."  
  
'And the shit keeps coming.' "Alright," Jack said aloud. "Where is he?"  
  
Ragetti pointed somewhere over Jack's shoulder and Jack turned around to see if he could find this 'Grapple' character. It didn't take him long. A staggering, literally, 6'2" man with the remains of a black mullet kinda stands out. Jack turned back to Ragetti. "And what am I supposed to do about," he gestured wildly, "that?"  
  
"Uh," Ragetti paused, considering, "don't let him hurt anyone?" That said, Ragetti half walked, half bolted, to the far corner. Jack sighed and stalked off towards Grapple. Of course, it's rather difficult to follow anyone in a huge room with more then two hundred people and five fog machines, so he just followed the voices, specifically the badly slurred, slightly Australian one.  
  
"Crap," Ana Maria stated.  
  
"What?" Lizzie asked.  
  
"Don't look now, but there's a drunk quarterback headed over here."  
  
"Crap."  
  
"Well put."  
  
"'Lizabeth, baby," even though Lizzie knew he was mainly sober, Grapple could still pass for being smashed.  
  
"Go away, Mick," there was only the slightest tremble in Elizabeth's voice.  
  
"Ouch, baby," Grapple shrugged it off. "Baby, please come with me to the dance."  
  
'Thin ice, Lizzie, thin ice.' "No Mick," Lizzie tried to stay calm. "I'm not going with you."  
  
Jack was about four feet away, but even from there he could see Grapple's hand twitch slightly before flying up to backhand Lizzie. Thankfully, she saw it too and moved away to where his class ring only just caught her eyebrow.  
  
"Bitch," Grapple slurred before attempting to hit her again.  
  
Catching his hand, Jack startled him. "That's not very nice," Jack was furious but was doing a damn good job of hiding it.  
  
"Who the hell are you?" Grapple questioned when Jack let go of his hand.  
  
Jack narrowed his eyes. "Smith, or Smithy if you like. Now, if you'll be so kind as to show yourself the door?"  
  
Grapple snickered, "This your new lap dog?"  
  
"I'd get the hell out of here," Jack's voice was a deadly whisper. "That is, if you don't want to be thrown out. Savvy?"  
  
"We'll talk later," Grapple said to Lizzie, it seemed that the immensely dense Mick Grapple finally got the point. Save your ass to fight another day, hopefully not anytime soon. 


	3. Mother's Love

A/N: I was going to post this as one humongous chap...This and then a scene in the car...Mind, Gutter, Out. But I lost that disc...Luckily I had my back up. So Here ya go..  
  
In case anyone's wondering, they still aren't mine.  
  
'If that's Grapple semi-sober,' Jack thought. 'He really is a nasty drunk.' He looked over at Elizabeth; she had a small cut above her eye. The thing he hated about small cuts, especially near the eye, was that they bled way too much. Ana Maria looked like she was having a nervous breakdown. The Harpies weren't going to be too much help either.  
  
"Ana," Lizzie was saying. "It's just a cut, for God's sake. I'm not dying."  
  
"But," Ana objected. "It's really bleeding Lizzie! It might need stitches! Oh, God! Stitches!"  
  
Jack let Ana ramble for about twenty seconds, then said, "No, it won't need stitches. Just needs to be cleaned, maybe a small bandage. She won't die from blood-loss either. I can get that bandaged in about twenty seconds, just need to make a trip home."  
  
Lizzie saw her way to get out of there and was grateful for it. She gave him a brief grin and turned back to Ana, Josie, and Kate. "See," she told them. "I'll be fine. Josie, Kate, I'll see you Monday?" the girls nodded. "Ana, study group tomorrow, 4:00?" Ana also nodded. "Good," She turned back to Jack and mouthed 'Thank you.' He grinned and let her walk past him to the door.  
  
Once outside, Lizzie giggled softly. Jack looked at her quizzically and asked, "What're you laughing about?"  
  
"Ana!" Lizzie giggled again. "She's such a, a mother hen sometimes."  
  
Jack was then greeted with the rather disturbing image of Ana Maria's head on a hen's body, with Lizzie and Will's heads on the bodies of baby chicks. Shaking his head, he walked towards her. "I don't have a car here," he told her, "but home is only a couple blocks away. We can get that cut taken care of, and then Mum can take you home."  
  
When they arrived at the apartment complex, they stopped. Jack entered the key code for the gate and waited for it to open. When it finally did, Jack let Lizzie walk through and then followed her. The apartment was in the second building back, the first apartment on the right. Jack fished the key out of his pocket and opened the door.  
  
"Mum!" he called up the stairs once they were inside. "I'm home!"  
  
"I'll be down in a minute!" his mother called back, she sounded startled.  
  
Jack grinned and yelled, "You can tell Josh he can come down too," he listened and when his mother said nothing, turned and walked into the bathroom that had been hidden by the front door. He opened the cupboard and started to look for something.  
  
Lizzie took a moment to look at the layout of the apartment. When you walked in the front door, immediately to your right was a bathroom and to your left was the kitchen, straight ahead a few paces and to the right were the stairs and farther down was a small living room. At the end of the living room was a sliding glass door that opened onto a small patio. Up the stairs there was apparently at least one bedroom. Lizzie heard someone close a door upstairs and heard footsteps heading for the stairs.  
  
Jack walked out of the bathroom with a bandage, some cotton balls, and what looked to be hydrogen peroxide just as his mother was reaching the end of the stairs, followed by a slightly older man.  
  
"Mum, Josh," he greeted. "This is Lizzie. Lizzie this is Mum and Josh."  
  
"Hello," the women said at the same time, then smiled.  
  
"Hello Miss Swann," Josh said.  
  
Lizzie turned to him, "Mr. Gibbs?"  
  
"I told you the principal was a friend of Mum's," Jack grinned.  
  
Joshamee Gibbs gave Jack a reproachful look that only caused his grin to widen. Michelle Sparrow looked between the two and smiled, then she looked at Lizzie again and the smile faded. "Oh," she sighed. "What happened?"  
  
"Someone started some trouble," Jack said flatly.  
  
"You tend to that," Michelle told her son. "I'll make tea." With that she disappeared into the kitchen. Mr. Gibbs soon followed.  
  
"Tea's Mum's cure-all," Jack explained. "C'mon into the living room. We'll get you patched up, then you and Mum can have a 'girl talk'."  
  
"I can clean it myself," Lizzie said. "Thank you very much."  
  
"It's a physical impossibility for someone to clean a cut above their own eye," Jack retorted. "Besides, I know what I'm doing," with that he walked off into the living room.  
  
"Men," Lizzie muttered, following him anyway.  
  
About a minute and a half later Elizabeth had a bandage and a glare and Jack was grinning again. "Told ya," he said.  
  
"Fine," she grimaced. "You were right, I was wrong. Happy now?"  
  
"Not really," was the answer. "But it'll do."  
  
Lizzie heard a light laugh and turned around. Michelle Sparrow had just entered the room, and apparently Josh Gibbs was in lost puppy mode. He was following her everywhere.  
  
"Water's heating," she explained. "Should be ready in a couple of minutes, until then," she gave a pointed look to her son, "why don't we talk for a while?" Jack gave a sheepish smile and gestured for his mother to begin. "Apparently you know each other from school," she looked to her son who nodded, "he's not causing trouble, is he?"  
  
Lizzie supposed that the question wasn't supposed to be funny, but she couldn't help but laugh, "No," she said finally. "Actually, he's livened up the English classes."  
  
"So," Michelle seemed relieved. "What's this," she gestured at...something, "all about?"  
  
Jack gave his mother a questioning look, and she clarified, "The cut. What happened?"  
  
"Oh," Lizzie said. "Club, semi-sober football player."  
  
"Uh-huh," the older woman sounded somewhat skeptical.  
  
"Your son's a good guitarist by the way," Lizzie hoped that would change the subject.  
  
"He is isn't he," apparently Lizzie's grasp in the dark worked. "He taught himself, you know."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Really," Michelle nodded. "He asked for a guitar one day," here Jack opened his mouth slightly, as if to speak, sighed, and rolled his eyes, "we told him if we bought it, he'd have to learn to play it, so he did."  
  
"I couldn't teach myself an instrument if I tried," Lizzie said.  
  
"Surely you can do somethin'?" Jack broke in.  
  
"Well," Lizzie started. "No...Nothing I'm good at anyways."  
  
"Ah," Jack grinned. "One of 'those' people."  
  
"One of what people?" She placed an emphasis on the word 'what' that made Jack smile.  
  
"The 'too modest for their own good' people," he said grinning broadly at her.  
  
Lizzie opened her mouth to say something but before the words came out, Jack gave a high pitched "Well I never!" with an appalled look on his face and a hand splayed on his chest.  
  
The effect of this little performance was to set both of the women to fits of giggles and Josh to an obviously fake coughing fit. Jack dropped the act, suddenly looking cross and sullen.  
  
"'S not funny," he insisted, pouting. This only caused the girls to giggle harder. Josh glanced at Jack and noticed the smile trying to break through.  
  
The teakettle whistled and Michelle got up, still chuckling, to make the tea. Lost Puppy Mode enabled, Josh followed her.  
  
Elizabeth stifled her giggles, somewhat successfully, and turned to look at Jack. He was looking towards the door to the kitchen with a wistful expression, a soft smile on his face.  
  
"She's doing a lot better now," he said softly. "Used to take hours just to make her smile."  
  
"Why is that?" Lizzie asked quietly. She regretted it almost immediately. The smile vanished from his face, leaving no emotion in its wake.  
  
"Because some men were never meant to marry," he said coldly. They sat in silence for about a minute and a half before Michelle and Josh emerged from the kitchen carrying a teapot and four mugs.  
  
Michelle set out the mugs and poured the tea, asking, "So, I hear you have study group tomorrow. Any particular reason?"  
  
"The Lit teacher assigned a three page essay," Lizzie said, grimacing.  
  
"On what?" Michelle was curious by nature.  
  
"Analyzing 'Picture of Dorian Gray' as a conflict of good and evil," Jack said helpfully. He turned to Josh, "Thanks for the heads up by the way."  
  
"Gave you time to look it up on SparkNotes did it?" Josh said nodding sagely.  
  
"Who me?" Jack tried his best to look innocent. It didn't work.  
  
Lizzie gave a half snort. Josh turned to her. "Miss Swann," he began.  
  
"Elizabeth, or Lizzie, please," she interrupted. "Miss Swann is too formal."  
  
"Elizabeth," he amended. "This make-up. It's not going to carry over to school, right?"  
  
Lizzie laughed and said, "No, Josie and Kate did it, and, believe me, after tonight, it's gone."  
  
"I dunno," Jack mused. "I think it suits you."  
  
Lizzie glared at him. Jack quickly made a cross with two fingers and mimicked a cat's hiss, grinning the whole time.  
  
"I guess the race for Class Clown is going to be close this year," Josh teased.  
  
"No," Lizzie joined in the teasing. "Jack actually made Will grin."  
  
Jack looked between the two of them and then said, "He's a bit of a stick if you ask me."  
  
"'Course Will only smiled because he ran into a door," Lizzie grinned wickedly.  
  
"It came out of nowhere," Jack defended himself. "Honestly, I was walking down the hall when the door jumped out in front of me."  
  
Michelle smiled knowingly, but there was a glint in her eye, "We know, sweetie. Just like the tree jumped out at you when you were seven."  
  
"That's not fair," Jack said amidst the smirks and restrained laughter. "I swear that thing was like the Tree of the Dead."  
  
Lizzie suddenly had the visual of a three foot tall Jack Sparrow running through the Western Woods set on Sleepy Hollow. She couldn't help it and laughed out loud.  
  
Michelle looked at him and said, "It wasn't that big."  
  
"Well, it was to me."  
  
Lizzie calmed down slightly while Michelle and her son glared playfully at each other.  
  
For a while, the group drank the tea in relative silence. Then Michelle looked at the clock, "Oh," she seemed surprised. "I think we ought to get you home."  
  
Lizzie checked the clock. Ten-thirty. "Yes," she said, setting her mug down on a nearby table. "Dad will probably be worried."  
  
"Jack," Michelle said, startling the person in question. "Would you drive her home?"  
  
"What?" he looked clueless for a moment before realization dawned. "Oh, uh, sure. I'll just, uh, go get the car started." He almost leapt from the seat and ran out the door.  
  
At a more sedate pace, Michelle, Josh and Lizzie followed. When they reached the door, they stopped.  
  
"It was nice meeting you, Lizzie," Michelle said, smiling genuinely.  
  
"It was nice meeting you, too, Mrs. Sparrow," Lizzie told her, also smiling.  
  
"You can call me Michelle, or Mitch, if you prefer."  
  
"I like Michelle better."  
  
"Good," the smile widened. "So do I."  
  
"Miss- er- Elizabeth," Josh started. "I'll see you on Monday?"  
  
"See you on Monday," she answered.  
  
The car pulled up outside the door and Lizzie walked out to it.  
  
A/N 2: Eh....I'll work on that second part. Jack and Liz aren't going to leave me alone til it's finished. 


End file.
